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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29337588">Solipsism</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlycomfort/pseuds/curlycomfort'>curlycomfort</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Westview Predicament [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>WandaVision (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Correspondence, Gen, Give Darcy Her Cup of Coffee, Manipulation, Mind Control, Poor Norm, Poor Vision (Marvel), Self-Doubt, Texting, Vision Is Gaining Conscience</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:09:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,732</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29337588</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlycomfort/pseuds/curlycomfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"-residents unknown. Please advise." Recites every employee standing in the office. Vision wasn't quite close to sharing the sentiment of enthusiasm radiating off of their expressions.</p><p>Then just like that, a laugh is shared, and they all go back to their work, snapping out of their synchronized moment without any acknowledgement.</p><p>Vision's brows furrow deeply and he turns to regard Norm, pulling his hands off the keyboard. "Why are you all-"</p><p>"So!" Norm interrupts a little too loudly, "What are you going to write back? You are the office funny guy."</p><p>Or</p><p>S.W.O.R.D.'s message is read by Vision, and he decides to reply back.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Darcy Lewis &amp; Vision, Wanda Maximoff/Vision</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Westview Predicament [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2193978</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Solipsism</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just a little idea I had while watching WandaVision :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's that mounting anxiousness appearing again, even when the office looks the same as it always has (Has it? He thinks they keep changing something without telling him).</p><p>Vision takes a seat, finishes his work the first few minutes through his shift despite still not knowing exactly what the company worked towards to. But every day he still got the data and he arranges it the way he'd been told to arrange it. Vision hasn't even stopped being confused, but if his work helps the company, then he can only keep doing it.</p><p>Today is different though, he isn't sure how he knows that. It's the same tingling sensation at the back of his head that he felt when Agnes barged into their home with a house for the dog they were still considering keeping, as though waiting for a queue. How would she even know that? People nowadays seemed to know exactly when to walk in or what to say. And Wanda, his beautiful loving wife seemed okay with it all. There was no doubt in her gaze and yet, there was something she wasn't telling him. Vision knew her well enough to assess for sure that she was keeping something from him -he isn't sure when their relationship had evolved into a daily attempt at lying- and it hurt him because- well, weren't they supposed to do it together? Wanda and Vision, facing the challenges of moving into a new town while trying to keep their nature a secret?</p><p>Wanda wasn't even trying to be <em>careful</em> about her powers anymore.</p><p>Something wasn't right, it hasn't been in a while.</p><p>The repetitive motions of work feel like a guilty comfort. He'd almost left their home in a rush to escape the oddity of the situation, Wanda's words still ringing in his impeccable memory. <em>I'm tired of hiding, Vis. And maybe you don't have to either.</em> But Vision didn't want that to happen. They'd done their best to blend in the neighbourhood. Dinner, events, day to day work. Revealing themselves would only break the ilusion, and it wasn't just them both anymore. They had the children to think about, they couldn't go without a safe-</p><p>"Vision, you need to check this out!" Norm's cheery voice breaks through to him and next thing he knew, Vision was peering at the bright blue screen of his new computer.</p><p><em>S.W.O.R.D. </em>What type of name was that for a company, anyways?</p><p>Vision's mouth opens to express his confusion, and he just ends up gaping at the message as some unknown force gets everyone coordinated enough to begin reading the e-mail out loud.</p><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</p><p>S.W.O.R.D.</p><p>TOP SECRET COMMUNIQUE.</p><p>AUTHENTICATE.</p><p> </p><p>DR. DARCY LEWIS' FINDINGS REGARDING</p><p>MAXIMOFF ANOMALY.</p><p> </p><p>HIGH LEVELS OF RADIATION PRESENT AT</p><p>PERIMETER. EFFECT ON WESTVIEW</p><p>RESIDENTS UNKNOWN.</p><p> </p><p>PLEASE ADVISE. </p><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</p><p>"-residents unknown. Please advise." Recites every employee standing in the office. Vision wasn't quite close to sharing the sentiment of enthusiasm radiating off of their expressions.</p><p>Then just like that, a laugh is shared, and they all go back to their work, snapping out of their synchronized moment without any acknowledgement.</p><p>Vision's brows furrow deeply and he turns to regard Norm, pulling his hands off the keyboard. "Why are you all-"</p><p>"So!" Norm interrupts a little too loudly, "What are you going to write back? You are the office <em>funny guy</em>."</p><p>Vision's still stuck on what just happened, hand pressed thoughtfully against his chin. He's almost afraid to make a single move. The bold white letters of the message blink at him unwaveringly. Maybe this is all just one more unquestionable thing about his life. Nowadays it felt as though he wasn't in the moment, sticking out of everyone else, walking at a different speed and just- out of frequency.</p><p>His hands begin to reach towards the monitor with the intention of getting rid of the e-mail, but in the last second he moves to stand instead, staring at Norm's wide open eyes.</p><p>Something tells him it's the right thing to do. He's got to find out what is wrong with everyone. When he does press his fingers to the man's temples and brings out <em>someone else </em>from within, the sensation in his gut only intensifies. It's horrifying, the immediate change in Norm's(?) expression, the pure desperation in his demeanor as he attempts to find his phone.</p><p>He's got family. A sick parent and he doesn't even know how long it's been (Since what?). Christ, what did he just stumble upon? </p><p><em>"You must stop Her."</em> Vision wishes he was just imagining the tears that cloud the man's eyes but which never quite make a run for it down his cheeks. The man is shaking all over-<em> "She's inside of our mind. It's pain... It's all pain. Please. Help u-"</em></p><p>Vision doesn't mean to make the man go back into himself to bring back the other Norm. It was more of a compulsive reaction to the implications of the situation. He fears whoever is holding them all against their will could be watching in on the interaction in that moment. But at that point, it wasn't difficult to point out who that person was. The message spoke of a <em>Maximoff Anomaly</em>. Hardly anyone from the office was aware of Wanda's last name. Maybe he wasn't imagining things after all. <em>Oh</em>, but how did Wanda come to that point? When did she decide it was necessary to puppeteer people that had their own lives? How long had it been since he'd fallen under that fabricated reality as well? Vision tries to act normal as he walks back to his desk, sits down and logs on to his own computer.</p><p>That message... It appears in his own inbox as well. He doesn't see that people have gone quiet behind him, leaning forwards at the same time as he did to hunch over the screen. His hands reach for the keys, and he slowly types out a message. A reply, hopefully, leading somewhere or someone that wasn't trapped in.</p><p>Trapped <em>where</em>?</p><p> </p><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</p><p>HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?</p><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</p><p> </p><p>One of the first questions that Norm asked.</p><p>He sends it. The computer notifies that the message had been successfully delivered. Vision becomes conscious of the background laughter <em>only</em> when it suddenly disappears, plunging the office in suffocating tension.</p><p>Everybody's looking at him, smiles frozen on their faces. Those who were standing are the perfect image of statues, and Norm is the only one breaking the silence, his laughter a practised sound, quieting down for a bit after enthusiastically exclaiming <em>Technology!</em> only to pick up the motion, again and again. Vision had heard him exclaim so upon returning to his desk. It's that upsetting behaviour, the lack of acknowledgement or concern for the reality of things, but then, no one else is in the moment asides Vision. Norm's smile is just as stiffeningly polished as usual. And Vision realizes too that it all looked fake. How had he not realized it all? These people, their whole lives, <em>his</em> life, all a lie. And with an increasing horror, Vision lamented too. <em>Were his children also a lie?</em></p><p>Norm's laugh echoes inside Vision's mind eternally.</p><p>"Technology!"</p><p>-</p><p>Darcy's still trying to figure out just how long it would take for the levels of radiation to blow off the charts. Although, she didn't need a degree in her field in order to assume that when it happnes, <em>it won't be pretty</em>. She's absentmindedly working the numbers while watching the current transmission. She thinks perhaps, that is something that normal people usually did in their homes, without, you know, the evidence of a catastrophic anomaly hanging over their heads with an invisible count down. But she thinks she's taken it well, all things considered. It wasn't her first round with the <em>unknown</em>.</p><p>In the screen, Wanda and the twins prattle on about Sparky -he's only been in the show for one episode but she already loves him to bits- while Billy tries to teach him tricks. The scene's been going longer than usual and it has been lacking any alternating scenes with Vision, but she thinks it's one of those episodes that center on the twins and some new lesson they have to learn.</p><p>That is until an officer walks in, holding a folder in their hands. </p><p>"Officer Jones. Miss Lewis, there's-"</p><p>"Doctor Lewis, please-" She uses the distraction to wipe away the embarrassing smudge of chocolate from the corner of her mouth, and turns to regard the nervous looking man. "Do we have any reply from S.W.O.R.D. HQ yet?"</p><p>The man merely hands her the file, a little crumpled at the edges. "We thought so, but we got this instead."</p><p>Darcy gives a first glance at its contents, eyes widening, "Holy shit."</p><p>It's an explosion of pixels, which could've been accredited to the sporadic signal intervention from the Hex -no matter what Woo says, it <em>is</em> catching on- but the thing was, the first half of the page is taken by the communique they sent, clean rows of black text against a white background. But the lower half of it is corrupted. The only thing she could come up with to describe the ocean of colours and jumbled pixels. It almost looks badly photoshoped when compared to the initial message, but it's a first. That would be a first direct interaction from <em>inside </em>without any prompting.</p><p>"On what did you send this message?" She asks, placing the file on the desk, ignoring the laughter coming from the screen. Her eyes caught onto something from within. There's a message there, alright, she just needs to look a little closer.</p><p>"On one of our computers reserved for official communications. Only a few have access to it." Jones replies immediately.</p><p>"You've checked already if S.W.O.R.D. didn't actually send it?"</p><p>"We've been informed the first communique didn't even reach headquarters."</p><p>Now, that's something interesting.</p><p>"Would it be possible to get my hands on it? It seems-" She writes something down on a clean part of the page and shows it to him. "The signals have crossed and the computer has mistakenly connected to another source. Even if I wanted to act funny and send something to HQ, it wouldn't get there. Someone inside there is actively trying to reach out. That's the initial theory of course."</p><p>The man seems hesitant, but he takes the folder back and nods. "I'll see what I can do, Doctor."</p><p>"Tell your boss I request an assessment of the equipment. Before I do anything else. Just to make sure."</p><p>Jones leaves without much else to say and Darcy thinks that he won't come back. It wouldn't be the first time. She's still waiting on that coffee.</p><p>The difference is, she would actually be disappointed if she didn't get the chance to elaborate on that message.</p><p>
  <em>-</em>
</p><p>Sparky does a twirl, and the audience breaks out into an annoying spiel of laughter. Darcy's tired about them at this point. She's on her second cup of noodles, actually eating into it instead of letting them waste with her shock.</p><p>A device lands besides her on her desk and she jumps, almost choking with the string of noodles she'd been trying to pull out from the cup.</p><p>"Warn a gal!" She manages in between a fit of coughs, abandoning her cup to the side to avoid any spillage. Not again.</p><p>"I need first person proof of what you said earlier." </p><p>"Hi to you too Hayward. Where's the trust in the expert?" She dabs at her mouth with a napkin and dumps it besides the noodles. She blinks at the screen of the computer he's brought, fascination taking over irritation as she begins scrolling through the two messages in thread so far. The pixels occupy just the part of the e-mail coming from whoever replied. She leans down under the desk and brings out a small device, finding and connecting it to the port in the computer.</p><p>"This is a confidential device from the organization. You shouldn't even be looking at it now."</p><p>Darcy doesn't look up from her task, but she does frown in distaste. "Relax, as I said, I have a theory on the beginnings. Look-" She turns the device towards Hayward and he peeks into it. "See that? There's a lot going on right now in this computer. It shouldn't look like this on normal circumstances. Something-" She lets the device keep running and heads for one of the extra televisions, slowly but surely getting it set besides the computer. "Is crossing signals with your issued device, for whatever reason. You know how sometimes you call somewhere and you end up talking to someone else? Just like that."</p><p>"And you think it's coming from the affected area." Hayward grunts in response.</p><p>"Exactly. And i'm thinking, if I adapt it to this monitor here, we might get a better look at it. It worked the first time, not sure why it wouldn't-" The screen blinks to life, and they both are now looking at a simplified version of the e-mail. The first part is more or less the same, but the new reply that had previously been swallowed by a digital mess now sat clear as day on screen.</p><p>
  <em>HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?</em>
</p><p>That seems to be enough to make Hayward believe in what she'd been saying. "I need to report this finding." He begins walking away, with purpose. The bastard is not even going to say 'Hey, nice work. You've helped a lot Lewis.' but that would be too far fetched for an asshole like him.</p><p>"So. Should I reply?" She calls back.</p><p>"Find out who that is and report it as soon as you are able to." Hayward turns a corner and disappears.</p><p>Darcy turns back to the screen and smiles.</p><p>She begins typing.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p>"Say, if I were to buy a car, would I be more likely to find a woman?" Norm perches against the edge of his desk, smiling, as always. </p><p>Vision's somewhat slumped back on his seat, arms crossed and eyes tired behind his fake lenses. The laughter in the background grates at him teasingly, and he wishes he could escape the office now too. Go somewhere where the laughter doesn't follow.</p><p>"Woah, Norm." He sighs exhaustedly, the prewritten response inside him flowing without too much effort. "Don't go too fast or you'll only catch a ticket."</p><p>Norm laughs loudly, as if he's just told the best thing in the world. The background laughter roars in intensity, and he's shoved forwards by Norm's deliberate pat on his shoulder.</p><p>"Oh, Vision. As ever, the comedian. I really think you should-"</p><p>Vision stops listening when he catches the change on screen. A new message.</p><p>Someone's replied.</p><p>He almost throws himself at the screen to shield it, but that would be just odd around everyone else, so he distractedly replies to whatever Norm said, which was the right thing, apparently, for he sauntered back to his desk with the last of his laughter bubbling out of him.</p><p>Vision calmly opens the message, and his eyes hungrily take in on the response. It's nothing as formal as the first message, lacking the company name and formal construction of words. But it's <em>there</em>. It's real and it hasn't been taken away from him yet.</p><p> </p><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</p><p>WHO ARE YOU?</p><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</p><p> </p><p>His question has been replied with another one. His hands ball into fists, and he gives another careful glance around the office. There's that feeling again. He's being watched, or maybe just listened into. Anyone around would assume he is still working. Wanda wouldn't be able to tell what he's been doing all this time right?</p><p>He wastes no time in replying, shutting off the computer as soon as he's done and moving to stand.</p><p>"I should be heading home, Norm. See you tomorrow." Vision pats Norm's back on the way out, hold tightening a little, just a fraction that wouldn't be noticeable externally. But it was a small attempt at reassurance, to whoever lived trapped in that mind. Vision was going to be careful about it, no chance for him to lose the tiniest bit of hope. It could be their only way out, or their only way in on the truth.</p><p> </p><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</p><p>I AM VISION.</p><p> </p><p>IS SHE WATCHING YOU TOO?</p><p>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</p>
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